Pandas

Pandas are high on the list of charismatic animals. My husband, however, is resistant to their furry charms. For decades, he’s staged a one man panda vendetta. So it’s good news to him that China is recalling their pandas.

His loathing of pandas started in 1972. Richard Nixon and his wife Patricia visited China, and Mrs. Nixon blurted out “I love them” to the Chinese premier. Two months later, a panda couple, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, arrived at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. and America went panda crazy.

Prior to the arrival of the pandas, my husband and I had planned a visit to D.C. We wanted our young children to experience all the wonderful monuments and museums in our nation’s capital. A trip to the zoo had not been on our itinerary. But how could we deny our two young children a visit to those black and white fur balls?

While viewing the pandas, my spouse was only seeing United States tax dollars flying out the window. Our nation paid one million dollars per year to China for the privilege of hosting the bears. That fee was just the start of the money flow. A bamboo grove was planted for them, specialized vets were hired to tend them and zookeepers kept a round-the-clock watch over them. “Cute” came at a high cost.

Those first bears were our guests for ten years, and replacements were sent when the original bears went home to enjoy their golden years. Three other zoos in Atlanta, San Diego and Memphis have subsequently hosted panda visitors. But with rising tensions between the United States and China, the remaining pandas are being recalled. The era of panda diplomacy is ending. The only remaining pandas are in the Atlanta Zoo, and they are scheduled to return next year.

The National Zoo pandas recently got a police escort to their plane, the Panda Express. A veterinarian, two zookeepers and 220 pounds of bamboo accompanied them on their trip home. The dollars keep flying.

Ever since that first encounter, my husband scowls at the sight or mention of pandas. In his opinion, if we wanted cute, we could have bought a carload of koalas, free and clear, from Australia and had money left over to bank.

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